Govt to form steering committee to hold Caspian economic conf

MOSCOW, July 14 (Itar-Tass) -- The Russian government will establish a steering committee to hold an intergovernmental economic conference of Caspian states.

The government presidium will discuss this issue at its meeting on Monday, the press service of the Russian government toldItar-Tass.

In early July the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan Dmitry Medvedev and Ilham Aliyev agreed in Baku that the next Caspian summit should be held, when its agenda is drafted completely and the major issues are put up for discussion. Specifically, Medvedev believed that "a summit should be held, when an agreement on Caspian security is drafted." Upon results of the Baku talks the presidents signed the Declaration on Amity and Strategic Partnership, which holds that Russia and Azerbaijan "will fulfil consistently their agreements for the soonest attainment of all-round settlement of the legal status of the Caspian Sea and the development of cooperation between the Caspian littoral states." The sides also agreed to contribute to the drafting and the conclusion of several agreements on cooperation in several economic spheres on theCaspian Sea, including the navigation and fishing.

The Russian government presidium will also discuss a package of federal laws aimed at lifting administrative restrictions for entrepreneurship. Minister of Economic Development Elvira Nabiullina and Minister of Industry and Trade Viktor Khristenko will present newlegislative initiatives of the government.

Meanwhile, the government presidium is expected to decide on the allocation of financial resources to the Russian Foreign Ministry from thereserve fund and to discuss several other issues.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will chair a meeting of the governmentpresidium that will begin at 4 p.m. Moscow time on Monday.